1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of controlling a consumer product, and more particularly to an apparatus and method which need not add or modify the original hardware of the consumer product when a new input device is connected to the consumer product.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently a consumer product, such as a set-top-box, provides a middleware to let a software programmer develop a program in the set-top-box. The middleware like DVB-MHP (Digital Video Broadcast-Multimedia Home Platform), DCAP (Distributed Control Application Platform) or ARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Business) acts as a software platform or application program interface, in which a program is executed to control the set-top-box.
However, the DVB-MHP limits its recognized input device only to a remote controller (RC) and a keyboard. In most cases, the remote controller is most popularly used. In addition, the applicable software of the DVB-MHP defines only a few specific key events. If a user wants to use input devices other than the limited applicable input devices, such as a joystick, a steering wheel, a mouse, etc., some hardware expansions, such as USB port and XBOX port, will be unavoidable. In addition, the DVB-MHP is required to add new definition for events of these input devices. Therefore, providing a new apparatus and method to support and be compatible with the original set-top-box under a low-cost consideration is a very important issue.